Fake it Till You Make It
by Kienova
Summary: "I'm so sick of Skye always insinuating that there's something between you and me. It's just ridiculous," Jemma ranted. "Denying it is getting us nowhere." "Well what would you propose as an alternative? Pretend to have sex until she gets sick of it?" The words were said as a joke, heart aching at her rejection of the idea of them ever being together. "Yes!" Jemma exclaimed.
1. Act One - Operation Screw with Skye

Fitz jumped when his bunk door flew open, a red faced Jemma storming in and slamming the door behind her as she leaned against the wall, letting out an aggravated huff. He raised an eyebrow, setting his computer aside on the bedside table and sitting up as he gave her his full attention, waiting for her to speak. When a full two minutes passed with not a single word being uttered, Fitz sighed, crossing his legs as he bit the bullet.

"Jemma, what's going on?" He questioned, motioning for her to come sit down. Instead, Jemma let out a growl, pacing the few feet of space between his desk and his bed, running a hand over her forehead and into her hair.

"I'm just… I'm so sick of Skye always…" Jemma rambled, breaking off the end of her sentence to stare angrily at the ceiling.

"Skye always…?" Fitz prompted, raising his hand to urge her to continue.

"Always insinuating that there's something between you and me. I don't understand why she cannot just accept that we are simply a heterosexual set of best friends. I mean honestly, the girl seems to think we're constantly slipping off to have sex in the lab or something. It's just ridiculous," Jemma ranted, throwing her hands up into the air. She missed the look that crossed Fitz's face, the hurt quickly shuttered away behind his eyes as a blush coloured his cheeks.

"Yeah... ridiculous," he agreed, scrubbing at the back of his neck. "I mean, there has to be some way to make her stop?"

"Well denying it is getting us nowhere," she groused, finally sinking down onto the edge of the mattress next to him.

"Well what would you propose as an alternative? Pretend to have sex until she gets sick of it?" The words were said as a joke, heart aching at her rejection of the idea of them ever being together.

"Yes!" Jemma exclaimed, instantly perking up. Fitz nearly choked on his own saliva at her enthusiastic response, his eyes going wide as he took in her expression. He had never thought she would consent to something so crass. In all their time at the Academy, SciOps and now on the Bus they had rarely spoken about anything sexual, Fitz preferring to be ignorant of any sexual conduct that Jemma participated in. His own exploits had been few and far between and something he had never shared with her either.

"Wait...what?" Fitz stammered, blinking up at her with confusion scrawled across his features. "You're... you're not serious Jemma."

"I am. It would be perfect. Skye is always on about us being a couple and denial has gotten us nowhere so why not affirm it? She'll get tired of it quickly because she won't be able to tease us about some hidden attraction or whatnot anymore. As soon as she leaves us along about it, we can go back to normal. It's just a bit of pretend Fitz." Jemma rushed, a beaming smile lighting up her face as she bounded off the bed and over to his desk, grabbing a blank piece of paper which she hastily began writing on it.

"But... I was... just kidding," Fitz mumbled to himself, trying to swallow around the panicked lump in his throat as he watched Jemma spiral in to preparation mode, her hand moving swiftly over the paper.

"We should be able to start tomorrow if things are quiet. Let her see us stumbling into here together at night. Maybe if we're all watching a movie there could be a pointed look before we both leave? Yes, that sounds like a solid plan," Jemma was muttering, nodding to herself. "Fitz, would you prefer to pretend to engage in oral sex or vaginal intercourse?"

XxX

Fitz nearly choked on his sip of water when Jemma got up from the sofa the next evening while they were watching a movie with Skye, an exaggerated yawn being released as she stretched her arms above her head, throwing him a pointed glance as she batted her eyelashes. He tried not to wince at her pointed look followed by the way she swung her hips as she left the common room, throwing a comment about being tired over her shoulder as she went.

He knew she was trying to be seductive in her motions, but he was too busy rushing through the reality of what was about to happen in a few minutes. He cringed, ducking his head down in hopes to draw his attention away from her retreating backside long enough to keep his hands from shaking. He didn't understand why she had to wear such tight trousers anyway – she hadn't been doing that before.

"I... I think I might turn in as well. Long day. Lots of... lab work," Fitz stuttered, getting to his feet without meeting Skye's gaze. She gave a nod in reply before picking at the last of the popcorn, her attention focused on the last minutes of the film.

"Fine, but I'm not telling you the ending," Skye called as he stumbled out of the common area and towards his bunk. He was barely at the door when Jemma's hand shot out, grabbing him by the edge of his shirt and yanking him into the room, not even registering his slight grunt at the force of the movement. As soon as the door was closed, Jemma letting out a fake giggle, she released him, crossing the tiny space to sit down on the floor by the bedside table and picking up a medical journal. He vaguely registered that she had commandeered one of his cardigans, the dark wool swamping her tiny frame.

"How much longer is there left of the film?" she questioned, squirming around slightly until she was comfortable, looking up at Fitz as he wandered over to the bed, sitting down on the mattress, his posture rigid.

"Ten... fifteen minutes?" he offered.

"Good, we won't have to worry about faking foreplay then," Jemma mused, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Fitz swallowed hard, nodding, as he lay down on the bed, burying his face in the pillow as he felt his cheeks heat at the thought of fooling around with Jemma – even if it was only pretend.

"Where... uh, where are we starting then?" he questioned, voice muffled by the synthetic filling of the pillow.

"Well, I would expect that seeing as you choose to forgo oral sex, we should be about to instigate or having just started penetrative intercourse," she replied, flipping the page of her journal. "That way there will be a significant amount of auditory feedback that we can utilise to make Skye think we're a couple."

"Okay," Fitz agreed, wincing before he pushed himself up to his elbows. "I was... obviously we need to imitate movement as well so I'll... uh, knock the headboard against the wall a bit, yeah?" Jemma beamed up at him for a moment before her eyes went back to the pages.

"That sounds brilliant," she said, voice quiet as she listened for the sound of Skye's bunk opening. The minute she heard the door click, she let out a moan, voice taking on a breathy quality. "Oh Fitz."

The sound of her moaning his name made his own breathing hitch, his heart pounding as he blushed again, blood struggling to decide which direction to travel as his cheeks flamed, arousal suddenly pooling in his belly. He wished he had never agreed to this. That he had the strength to say no to Jemma, even though he knew it was a pipe dream.

"Mmm," he groaned in reply, not trusting his voice for anything more than that. He closed his eyes, rocking the bed slightly to create a soft creaking. No matter what he tried to do to block out the images his mind was conjuring, he couldn't stop them when he heard Jemma whimper. Immediately, he could picture her beneath him, her legs wrapped around his hips as he gently thrust in and out of her, their hands intertwined on the pillows. "God, Jemma," he blurted, cock filling rapidly as he pressed his pelvis to the mattress.

"Oh," the gasp she released sounded almost real, throwing more images into the forefront of his mind. Would she want to go fast or slow? Would she be okay with him being slightly dominant? Would she prefer missionary? To be on top? For him to take her from behind? He grunted, inadvertently thrusting into the bedding and knocking the headboard into the wall as he imagined pressing himself to her back, his fingers tight on her hips. He threw a quick glance down at Jemma to find her still reading. "Oh, harder, please, harder." The words drove him to realise he had stopped moving for a moment, stopped breathing even, before he started to rhythmically push the frame of the bed into the wall.

Jemma, for her part, was fighting to keep her cheeks from turning red, her lungs tight and vision going blurry from the arousal that was suddenly rushing through her at the sound of Fitz's pained groans and the images running through her mind. His noises rattled something loose in her, blood pounding in her ears as she felt her body respond, the heat between her thighs growing slick with arousal. She covertly moved around until she could press the heel of her socked foot into the apex of her thighs, rocking herself against it to try and relieve the throbbing in her clit.

"God, look at you, fuck." His rough voice tore through her already fragile control over her mind, a vision of the two of them suddenly rocketing to the forefront of her mind. He was poised above her, between her thighs, both of her legs pushed back until her knees rested on his shoulders, blue eyes trailing over every inch of her as he moved inside her. Her entire body was suddenly alight with arousal, her knickers dampening even further as she tried to keep her breathing in check all while nearly dizzy with desire for the man a mere two feet away.

Fitz prayed Jemma wouldn't look up, that she wouldn't choose that moment to get up from the floor next to the bed where she was sitting flipping through a medical journal and turn to see how he was no longer simply knocking the headboard into the wall, but was instead rutting against the mattress. Somewhere in the last few moments he had gone from just imagining Jemma beneath him to wanting nothing more than to find release with her.

"Oh, yes, there, right there," Jemma moaned, another page being turned as she let out a groan following her words, the hand that wasn't holding the magazine slapping down onto the nightstand, the noise echoing through the room. Glancing towards her, he noticed that her cheeks were flushed but her eyes never strayed from the paper, only closing as she let out the next falsified noise of ecstasy. "Let's wrap it up for tonight," she hissed, barely loud enough for him to hear before she started to let out exaggerated pants and huffs, increasing in volume every few seconds. "Oh, oh Fitz, I'm going to-" She cut herself off with a high pitched gasp, turning it into a moan a second later.

Hearing her say his name in such a way was too much. His hips hitched more frantically against the bed, his hands gripping the headboard with ferocity as he felt his body reacting without his full consent.

"Oh fuck, Jemma," he growled, eyes squeezing shut as release hit him, his cock twitching frantically as he came, soaking the fabric of his trousers. He felt dizzy with it, panting harshly as he buried his face in the duvet, grunting through the last few aftershocks.

A minute passed before he was able to unclench his fingers, releasing the wooden headboard and lowering his hand down to rest on the pillow, his heart still pounding beneath his ribs as he tried to steady his breathing and not let Jemma know that he had… and in his trousers no less. He flushed crimson at the thought of her getting up, expecting that they would watch a film or talk and him needing to duck into the bathroom to clean himself up. What if he had leaked onto the bed too?

' _God, she'll never be able to look at me in the face again when she realises that this meant… that I… that hearing her, like that, even if it was fake for her was… God, it will fuel my fantasies of her for years_ …'

Amidst his internal panic, Jemma stood up, stretching her arms above her head, her back cracking slightly from having been sitting on the floor for the last half an hour before she wandered into Fitz' bathroom, the tap clicking on a second later. She returned a few minute later, her clothes deliberately rumpled and hair dampened at the roots with water. She had even done something to the skin on her neck, a red mark showing just above her collar. She smirked, shaking her head.

"Tired?" She asked, noticing how Fitz still lay prone on the bed, his left hand clutching at the pillow as he tried not to squirm under her scrutiny and at the feeling of his own release cooling against him.

"Mmm," he replied, not trusting his voice not to crack or reveal how wrecked he actually felt.

"I should go," Jemma commented, the statement their agreed upon end of their fake tryst. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"Mmhm," Fitz answered, trying not to pay attention to the feeling in his stomach as Jemma raised the back of her own hand to her lips, creating a kissing sound against her own skin before heading for the door, slipping out into the hall with only a split second's glance in his direction. Once he was sure she was gone, Fitz pushed himself up, grimacing at the feeling but sighing in relief when he noticed the duvet had survived unscathed save for being rumpled where he had been thrusting against it. He staggered into the bathroom, stripping before climbing into the shower, making sure the water was only lukewarm at best.

He hoped Jemma didn't want to do that again. He wasn't sure he could survive the embarrassment if he came in his pants again and she noticed. He also wasn't sure if he would ever be able to look at her again without imagining her moaning his name.

XxX

Jemma made back to her bunk in a matter of seconds, both immensely pleased that she didn't run into Skye or anyone else, while also being aggravated that her preparation of looking sex rumpled had been for naught. Her thoughts vanished almost as soon as her door was locked however, her pupils still blown wide from arousal as she frantically tugged her belt out of the loops, unzipping her jeans and shoving them down slightly. She hoped Fitz hadn't noticed the state she was in.

Biting back a whimper she shoved her hand into her panties, not bothering to tease herself like she normally would, but rather immediately shoving two fingers into herself, the heel of her palm grinding against her clit as she fucked herself with. She vaguely registered how her panties were completely soaked against her knuckles, but she was too glad for the way she was able to quickly bring herself close to the brink.

She hadn't thought about how faking sex with Fitz would actually affect her. Hadn't realised how turned on she would get at the sounds he would make. At the way her name would sound with his accent between moans and grunts. She wondered if Fitz has noticed how turned on she was. Had he seen the way she had been trying to subtly grind her clit against the heel of the foot she had curled beneath her? Had he been able to smell the arousal on her?

 _'Oh fuck, Jemma_.'

The way he had moaned her name reverberated through her mind, a soft groan slipping from her as she shattered against her own fingers, muscles clenching tight rhythmically where she tried to maintain her pace of aborted thrusts, unable to keep her hand between her legs for more than a moment before she had to yank it from her knickers, grabbing at the wall to keep from collapsing to the floor as the last dregs of orgasm washed through her.

A few moments passed before she managed to stagger to the bed, shoving her jeans and panties off before crawling beneath the covers naked from the waist down. It was only as sleep started to pull her under that she realised two things. The first was that she was still wearing Fitz's pilfered cardigan, the soft wool giving off the scent of his cologne and something that was purely him. The second was that they were going to have to pretend to have sex again if they wanted to convince Skye that they were, indeed, a couple.

"Damnit."


	2. Act Two - A Laboratory Experiment

There were three blissfully busy days that followed, Fitz hopeful that Jemma would drop the charade of their supposed romance in favour of focusing on their work. His dreams of that were shattered relatively quickly, however, when Jemma sidled up to him in the middle of his constructing a motherboard for one of their projects.

"We may need to be more public if we're going to convince Skye of our relationship," she commented, voice quiet but tempered. Fitz dropped the screwdriver he had been using to the table, the metal clattering loudly in the otherwise relatively calm lab.

"I'm sorry?" he squeaked, eyes wide as he looked up at her.

"Skye hasn't said anything about the other night which makes me think maybe we were too quiet or not obvious enough. Maybe we need to be more vocal? Or simply just engaging in... activities in a more public setting," Jemma rambled, fidgeting with the papers in her hand before she moved back towards her own work station. Fitz swallowed hard, trying to keep himself focused as he fought with the bolt of arousal that her words sparked in him.

"What... what did you have in mind exactly?" he queried, picking up the discarded tool to feign work while he awaited her answer. He knew he was being idiotic – that it would only result in confusion and most likely destruction on his own psyche, but he couldn't help but be curious. Would she want him to snog her? Would they pretend to be touching and petting one another beneath the cover of a blanket on the common room sofa? Would she want him to push her up against a wall just before Skye would round the corner and –

"I was thinking perhaps we could pretend to be engaging in sex here in the lab. The table over there is out of view of the cameras and if it's later on in the evening the only person who would be likely to come down here would be Skye. You could stand behind me and we could stage it to look like we were having intercourse without either of us having to take any clothes off." Jemma kept her words clinical and focused on the task she had set herself to complete, using the guise of planning and preparation to keep herself grounded and her thoughts away from the romantic, downward spiral that they had been spinning into since their fake tryst. She had been intent on ignoring the feelings that Fitz's moans had sparked within her and the thoughts that followed, particularly the ones that involved him kissing her senseless.

 _'Sweet Mother of Jesus'_ Fitz thought, trying not to let his jaw drop at the suggestion while his trousers suddenly became exceedingly tight at even the thought of _pretending_ to take Jemma over top of the table.

"Okay," he managed to get out instead, trying to recite the periodic table backwards to distract himself. "If... if that's what you want and, uhm, if you think it's a good idea."

"I think it will work," Jemma replied, carefully pouring one beaker into another, never once lifting her eyes to meet his. Fitz just nodded deftly.

"But... uh, let's... let's wait till this mission is over, yeah? Don't want things getting too... complicated," he muttered, shaking his head to try and focus on his work.

"Of course we'll wait. If this were real we obviously would want to be focused on our work first."

XxX

The mission lasted another day and a half, Fitz's attention often straying to the thought that he was going to have to pretend to have sex with Jemma again the minute it was over. It didn't help that there was a life or death scare in the last few hours of their assignment, guns popping as they ran through a warehouse, Fitz tackling Jemma to the ground as a stray bullet whizzed past them, grazing his shoulder as they dove for the floor.

"Fitz!" Jemma gasped, raising a shaking hand to the tiny mark that had torn his shirt open but left little more than a scratch against his skin.

"I'm fine," he assured her, grabbing her hand in his and lowering it from his shoulder even as she frowned, trying to survey the damage. As another round of bullets flew over the crated they were hidden behind, he grabbed her head, tucking her into his chest as he pressed her against the wall, shielding her from any ricochet. Jemma felt her heart pounding even as she clenched her eyes shut, trying to block out the sounds of gunshots as her hands trembled, fingers tangling in the fabric of Fitz's Oxford. "You're okay, I've got you," he mumbled against her hair, breath stirring against her ear as the shots finally died down.

"Everyone okay?!" Coulson's voice rang out from the opposite side of the warehouse, May and Ward's affirmatives echoing a second later.

"What the _hell_ was that?!" Skye was yelling almost instantly after, popping up from behind the crates at the end of the same aisle where Fitz and Jemma were hidden. Fitz blushed, slowly leaning back until Jemma could disentangle herself from him, standing up on only slightly shaking legs.

"Well, it seems like things have at least ended in our favour," she offered, fiddling with the row of buttons on Fitz's shirt as she remained in his personal space, Skye's gaze focused solely on them as Jemma looked up into his eyes, a strange look passing through them.

"You're okay?" he asked, his hand coming to rest of Jemma's elbow as she nodded.

"I'm alright," she agreed, voice thick for a moment before she almost visibly shook herself out of it, dropping her hands back to her sides and taking a step back. Skye watched them for a few more seconds before turning around and heading towards the rest of their team. "That... we... it will be easy to blame life or death for us not being able to make it back to our bunks when we get back to the bus," Jemma whispered, following Skye a moment later, leaving Fitz to stand in the aisle on his own.

"Fuck," he grumbled, trying to tamp down his arousal as he trudged after Jemma.

XxX

"Quick, before Skye comes down here," Jemma rushed, grabbing Fitz's wrist as she yanked him towards the table she had designated as the next setting of their ruse. Fitz swallowed thickly before wandering towards her with significantly less haste. She let out a frustrated huff, dropping his wrist so that she could lean over the table, yanking her skirt up to rest atop her backside.

"Jemma!" Fitz panicked, clenching his eyes shut as he turned his head toward the ceiling, neck protesting at such a sudden movement.

"Calm down, I have running shorts on," she groused, tugging at his wrist again. When he cracked an eye open he found that she did, indeed, have a tiny strip of fabric covering her intimate areas, although he thought calling them shorts was being generous – they looked more like knickers to him than something someone would wear while running.

"What do you –"

"Undo your belt and come up behind me. Its unlikely that Skye will actually get close enough to see that we're not actually having sex. We just need to simulate it," Jemma instructed. He did as she told him, shaking hands pulling his belt and letting it fall open, the strips of leather bracketing the bulge that was already pressing at the front of his trousers. When Fitz made no further comment, she groaned. "Fitz, just stand behind me and thrust."

"Okay," he squeaked, unable to keep his voice level as his vision swam, all the blood from his face rushing into his groin. He pressed one hand onto the counter next to Jemma's hip, trying to keep his pelvis away from her. "Should... should I... where should I put my hands?" he asked after a beat. Distantly, he could hear the sound of Skye's shoes squeaking at the top of the stairs, her voice, along with Ward's, echoing down into the lab. Looking around frantically, Jemma frowned, her own hands going to her blouse to pull a few buttons open, un-tucking the hem from her skirt before she glanced back at Fitz.

"Keep this one here, put the other one in my hair, pull me back towards you. If you're worried about your expression hide your face in my shoulder," she rushed, grabbing his hand to put it into the silky strands of her hair.

"Jemma!" he gasped, more out of shock than anything else, his hips nearly jumping towards hers without his volition at the picture she painted, her back curving as she leaned towards him, pushing her breasts out. She glanced back at him, smirking, before starting out let out exaggerated moans, rocking her own body against the edge of the table.

"Oh Fitz, yes," Jemma groaned, giving him a wink over her shoulder. She didn't dare let herself think too deeply on what she was doing, her body already responding to the simulation she was putting in motion, the feeling of Fitz's fingers tangling in her hair and his forearm pressed against her hip as he gripped the table with white knuckles sending her mind into overdrive. She wanted nothing more than to push herself back against him, to align their bodies in hopes of feeling his arousal against her backside. They'd barely even begun their façade and already she was wishing she had more fabric between them, her body responding quickly until she could feel the fabric between her legs dampening.

 _'Oh God,'_ she thought suddenly, her cheeks draining of colour. ' _What if he really isn't attracted to me?'_

She wasn't able to dwell on the thought too much, however, for that was the moment that Fitz pulled on her hair slightly, their bodies curling together as he pressed his face into her neck, his breath hot as he panted against the skin there. Jemma's hands reached back, one cupping his neck while the other flew to his hip, holding him tight against her despite how he kept his pelvis just far enough away that she couldn't feel him.

He grunted, thrusting against the air, desperate to keep his erection from touching her even as he simulated having sex with the gorgeous woman in his arms. Moans were spilling from Jemma's lips with ease and, if he opened his eyes to look down from where his face was buried in her neck, he could see down her blouse, the pale blue lace of her bra contrasting against her lightly freckled skin.

"Fuck, Love, what you do to me," he growled, trying to rein himself in even as he felt his body spinning out of his control. He wondered what it was about the woman in his arms that had him so wound up, but he could only assume it was one thing: his feelings for her. He could feel his cock pressing against the fabric of his pants, the sensitive tip pushing into the seam of his jeans with each forward motion of his hips, driving his arousal higher and higher. He wanted to pull back, unsure of how long he would be able to control himself in such as position. As it were, he desired nothing more than to take hold of her hips and rut against her until he reached completion. If he was honest with himself, it wouldn't take long at the rate he was going.

"Yes, oh, more Fitz, please," Jemma begged, the fingers that she had around his neck increasing in pressure as the sound of the lab door opening filtered through his senses.

"Jesus Christ!" Skye yelped, her hand slamming up over her eyes as Fitz's popped open, having completely forgotten what their actual intent was regarding their actions.

"Oh God!" Jemma exclaimed in mock horror, her hands dropping away from him as she frantically tried to close the gap in her blouse.

"Fucking hell," Fitz mumbled, hastily acting as if he were trying to push himself away into his trousers, turning his back on the two women. "God Skye, haven't you heard of knocking?!" he bellowed, dizzy with sensation as he stumbled into the back room of the lab, turning on the sink.

He could vaguely register Jemma's voice sounding through the thin wall as she scolded Skye, the younger woman yelling about privacy and there being bedrooms for a reason, but he couldn't find it in himself to care, the pounding of blood in his cock too much for him to endure much longer. He had thought that Skye's entrance would have cured his current state, but it had done nothing to alleviate the problem. All he could think about was the sensation of Jemma's nails in his neck and the feeling of her hair in his hand, the heat from her body surrounding him where they had been pressed together.

He barely had time to undo his fly and get a hand on himself, stroking only a few times before he was finding release, pulsing into the sink as his hips pushed his cock through the ring his fingers had created. The hand which was empty pressed against the wall, keeping him upright as he shuddered through each bolt of pleasure, his mind warring between ecstasy and revulsion at himself, only a fleeting thought being spared for how grateful he was that he hadn't gone off in his trousers again. He didn't let himself dwell in the afterglow of release, shoving himself back into his jeans before hastily washing his hands, his cheeks stained red as he finally managed to walk back into the lab where Jemma was standing stiffly by one of the chairs, Skye leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, obviously you two have something going on here," Skye muttered, regarding him with a smirk. Fitz squirmed under the scrutiny.

"Skye –" he started.

"I know, I know, you both almost got shot today, you needed to reaffirm that you were alive. I think its romantic, really, just please, save my poor eyes and do it in your rooms, yeah? You're not the only two that have to work in this lab... or, well, visit this lab," she said. Jemma had the gall to look sheepishly at the other woman from under her lashes before averting her gaze to her hands which were folded in her lap. "Right. I'm going to go train for a bit so you two can, you know, finish... that, in one of your bunks."

"I quite think the mood is ruined now Skye," Jemma grumbled. Skye snorted with laughter.

"Yeah, alright, you tell yourselves that until your ankles are up around your ears there Simmons," Skye cackled, taking her leave of the room. Jemma rolled her eyes despite the slight blush that tinted her cheeks, fidgeting with some papers on the desk.

"Well... uh, she definitely thinks we're, uhm, doing... _it_ now," Fitz said, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. Jemma nodded deftly.

"Yes. I think... well, maybe once more, just... just audio this time and then hopefully she'll leave us alone," she said.

"Uh, okay. I'm... I'm really tired Jemma, I'm going to head to bed, alright?" He didn't look up, missing the wounded look that crossed her features at his quiet and dismissive tone.

"Of course. I've just one or two things to look over and then I think I'll do the same," she answered. "Have a good night Fitz."

"I'll see you tomorrow," he muttered, hastily heading for the door, dodging up the stairs quickly before Jemma even really had time to process what had happened. She staggered back until her knees hit her chair, her body folding into it almost immediately. As she glanced up at her computer, she noticed the flush on her cheeks and the blown out look of her pupils, her hair a mussed disaster as it curled down around her shoulders.

"Oh God," she muttered, hiding her face in her hands. When they had started their fake tryst, she had only wanted Skye to leave them alone. Now, two fake sex scenes later, she was in turmoil. She hadn't realised how strong her feelings for Fitz actually were until they had started faking orgasms around one another. Hadn't realised that it was more than lust until earlier in the day when she had felt him cocoon her in his arms during the fire fight. And now, her body still thrumming with unsatisfied arousal, she realised that she wanted him. In every way. For real. "What am I going to do?"

Looking at the clock and seeing how late it was, she sighed, resigning herself to get to her feet and go to bed. She wasn't going to find answers with no sleep after all.


	3. Act Three - Affection? What?

"You two don't make sense," Skye muttered the next evening, a beer in her hand and her head dropped against the back of the sofa.

"Hm?" Jemma queried, glancing up from her tablet to look at the other woman. Fitz had excused himself nearly an hour before, stating that he wanted to work on one of his projects for a little longer before disappearing down into the lab. Without him beside her Jemma feared that the rouse would crumble at her feet, knowing that she couldn't blatantly lie to save her life.

"You and Fitz," Skye continued. "I mean, yeah, I get it, but at the same time, I don't."

"What... what is it that you don't get?" she pressed, averting her eyes to the screen in her lap to try and keep Skye from looking for any of her tells.

"Well, I mean, the way you two feel about each other is obvious. I could tell within the first week I was here that he's completely in love with you, and you're not much better at hiding your feelings from the way you watch him all the time. But, like, at the same time you're never affectionate with each other. Not in a traditional sense anyway," Skye explained, taking a sip of her drink before twirling the bottle in her hands. Jemma frowned, cocking her head to the side, a million questions rushing through her mind at the comments Skye was making, particularly regarding Skye's apparent observations about their feelings and interactions.

"What do you mean we're not affectionate?" She didn't know why, but the question irked her. She had always considered herself to be one to show fondness towards Fitz – making his tea when he was busy with a project, bringing him sandwiches when she knew he was prone to hypoglycemic crankiness, watching documentaries about monkeys with him when he was upset or not feeling well.

"You never hold hands or anything. And I've never seen you kiss. Or even just hug one another, except when someone's almost died or whatever. And I _obviously_ know you two are physical with one another. It just... it seems weird that I've never seen you just be... I dunno, cutesy with each other," Skye elaborated, moving on from twirling the dark glass to picking at the condensation damp label. She laughed softly to herself after a beat, shaking her head. "Sorry, ignore me, it's been a weird week. Just... you guys are okay, right? This isn't just some fuck buddies thing, is it? I mean, that's fine if it is, but I just..."

"We're not just friends with benefits Skye," Jemma assured her, unsure of where the other woman had been going when she cut herself off. "We're fine." The words felt like sandpaper in her mouth, her eyes never leaving the tablet as she struggled with the strange feelings that raced through her, her chest tight and tears pricking suddenly at the back of her eyes. "We're both just... we're not usually very physically intimate in public." She managed to keep her voice steady at the words, even as images of simple things like twining her fingers with Fitz's and cuddling into his chest while they watched a movie popped into her mind. Skye snorted, laughing maniacally.

"Evidently you don't have that much trouble with PDA after what I walked in on last night," the girl grinned, her dark eyes dancing as Jemma blushed.

"Evidently we didn't think we would be interrupted. And we'd... he nearly got shot protecting me Skye," Jemma groused. Skye continued to snicker, shaking her head as she stood up.

"I'm going for another beer; want one?"

"No, thank you." She watched Skye head to the kitchen under her lashes, sighing softly before clenching her eyes shut. She needed to keep her feelings for Fitz to herself and to keep them under control. Just because Skye thought he had feelings for her didn't mean that he actually did. And even if he did fancy her, it didn't mean that he would actually want a relationship with her.

A large part of her suddenly wished that she hadn't taken him up on such a ridiculous idea as pretending to have sex. It was the part of her that had been suppressing the crush she had on him since she was seventeen and they had started working together. The part of her that had been charmed completely and instantly when even though they were barely speaking as they worked together, he had still managed to catch her when she stumbled off a step ladder while trying to reach for something in the back of the top cabinet in their lab. The part of her that had been terrified that he wouldn't come with her into the field and would force her to either go alone or to give up the desire to experience something outside of their lab simply so she could stay close to him. The part of her that could feel her strongly fortified walls that she had spent years building crumbling at her feet, one pebble at a time.

A smaller part of her, the one she rarely listened to, desperately wanted to cling to the illusion for just a little bit longer. Wanted to get everything she could out of it, so she could at least pretend to know what it would be like to be with him. To know what it would be like if he was moaning her name. To know what it would feel like to have his hands on her hips, his breath in her ear. To know what it would be like to hold his hand; to kiss him. She choked back a sob, her heart aching. She knew it would hurt, but all she wanted in that moment was for her best friend to hold her and tell her things would be okay.

"Jemma?" Fitz's voice broke through her thoughts, drawing her attention to where he stood next to the sofa, concern scrawled across his features. She couldn't help but let the tears slip through her lashes then, his tone breaking the thin control she had. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he rushed, coming to sit next to her. Jemma shook her head, trying to brush the tears off her face. "Hey, you're okay." The words were whispered softly as he wrapped an arm around her. She fell into him easily, letting herself take comfort in the sound of his heartbeat and the warmth of his chest.

She hated herself for succumbing to her own desires, knowing they would only hurt her in the end, but she couldn't stop herself if she tried.

"You could have died," she said, desperate to cover the real reason for her tears, not wanting Fitz to know that she was crying because of how much she wanted him. And yet, even as she said the words as a disguise, the reality of them hit her like a punch to the abdomen. Breath hitching, she tangled her fingers in the fabric of his button down, needing to know he was still with her.

"I'm fine Jem," he assured her, stroking gentle circles onto her back, his breath ruffling her hair. She curled even tighter into him, her arms snaking around his back. "I promise I'm fine." Without warning she felt Fitz gently tug her into his lap, rocking her slightly as he started to recite the stars of each of the zodiac signs quietly. Jemma felt her chest constrict at that, trying to keep herself from crying even harder at the realisation that Fitz remembered how such a thing calmed her down, even though she had told him that fact nearly a decade earlier.

It took her a while to rein herself in, her sobs slowly quieting until they were just the occasional sniffle, her eyelids heavy as she stayed in her place on Fitz's lap, not willing to move away just yet. She had been so consumed by the sorrow and terror that warred within her that she missed Skye coming back into the room, a sad look crossing the other woman's face before she ducked back out again, taking her laptop and disappearing into her bunk. Jemma wondered what he would do if she fell asleep in his arms. Although they had fallen asleep in the same room dozens of times over their friendship, she had never felt as contented and safe as she did against his chest; pulse beating calmly beneath her ear. Fingers absently playing with one of the buttons on his shirt she tucked her head under his chin, voice quiet as she began speaking.

"I don't think Skye believes us," she muttered, needing to draw her own mind away from the thought that she could have lost the person she cared about most. She felt Fitz stiffen against her for a moment before he gingerly resumed rubbing her spine, fingers skating over the scar beneath her blouse.

"Why's that?" he inquired, words warm against the crown of her head.

"She thinks we're not affectionate with one another. Not the way that most couples are," Jemma explained, regretfully removing herself from Fitz's embrace so that she could curl on the sofa next to him, her gaze meeting his for a moment. The expression that he wore was one that she wasn't used to. It was confused and yet slightly closed off as well, his eyes downcast.

"Oh," he mumbled, fidgeting with the edge of one of the throw pillows from the sofa before he sighed loudly, scrubbing a hand over his face before he rubbed it against the back of his neck. "What... what do most couples do?" The question was asked so softly that she nearly missed it, her heart hammering painfully in her chest when the weight of his words finally sunk in. In all her desire to trick Skye she had forgotten one critical point – Fitz had never been in a relationship.

"I'm so sorry Fitz, I should have never –"

"No, Jemma, please, don't apologise –"

"We don't need to do this –"

"No, its fine, I want to –"

"I don't want to pressure you –"

"Just tell me what you want me to do Jem. What... what people would do?" His question was so earnest that she nearly broke down into tears again. Even though she was shaking slightly she lifted a hand, moving it until she could rest it against his palm, twining their fingers together.

"This, Fitz. This is the kind of thing people in a relationship would do."


	4. Act Four - In Sickness and in Health

_**A/N: TW: Vomiting**_

* * *

He knew it was a bad idea. Technically, most of the thoughts he had in the last week or so could be considered bad ideas, but it didn't stop him in the least. Pretending to sleep with Jemma was one thing. A thing which caused him near embarrassment every time he remembered the noises she would make or the way her hair had felt clutched in his fist as his face was buried in her neck. A thing which caused him to spend more time in the shower than he had in ages and with the constant feeling that his trousers were just a little too tight whenever she bent over something in the lab.

The idea to let himself give in to all the simple forms of affection he wanted to bestow upon his best friend was, in the end, just another bad idea to join the rest. Instead of crushing all the little things he had been dying to do since they were still teenagers, he decided to allow himself to just go with it. To allow his hands to find hers if he felt like it, or to stand as close to her as he wanted.

The only promise he decided to make to himself was not to kiss her. He knew if he did, he may never be able to convince himself to stop and, no matter how much he wanted that, he wasn't willing to lose her friendship because of his own feelings. Having her in his life was the most important thing.

When he wandered into the lab the next morning, the feeling of Jemma's hand tangled with his still fresh in his mind, he couldn't help but smile softly at the way Jemma was already hunched over a microscope, her attention completely absorbed by whatever sample she was looking at. He sighed softly, heart beating faster at the sight of her, before he wandered over, resting a hand on her arm as he leaned forward.

"Morning," he whispered, his breath ruffling the hair at her temple as he used his other hand to place her cup of tea down on the counter, his fingers stroking the skin of her wrist. He felt her stiffen slightly before she relaxed, leaning back against his chest a little.

"Morning," she replied, "thank you for the tea."

"Of course." He stepped away then before he became too wrapped up in the smell of her shampoo, ducking away to his own desk to begin tinkering with various projects. He nearly mourned the loss of not being able to do anything else that morning when Coulson came in a few minutes later, saying that he needed Fitz's attendance on a recon mission. Jemma had watched them go with a sigh, never even bothering to stand up from her desk. As he wandered after Coulson, Fitz realised that things like that were why Skye didn't think they could be a couple.

XxX

Returning nearly twelve hours later, Fitz groaned, dropping his bag in the lab as Coulson ranted on about the scratch Lola had received.

"I'll fix her in the morning Sir, promise," he muttered, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck before climbing the stairs and wandering towards the common area. Finding both Skye and Jemma strewn on the couches, however, was not what he anticipated finding. Skye was mostly sitting up still, her eyes scrunched closed as she breathed harshly.

Jemma, on the other hand, was lying down, her skin pale and forehead dotted with sweat. Both of the women had a bin next to them resting on the floor.

"Jemma, what's the matter?" he rushed, crossing the floor to crouch down in front of her. He ignored the tiny part of his mind that told him to keep his hands in check, instead raising his fingers until he could brush her hair back from her face.

"I am never eating anything Skye brings home again," she mumbled, a hand rubbing at her stomach absently as she blinked her eyes open, looking up at Fitz with a petulant expression. The nausea that had been coming in waves the last few hours was ratcheting up again, bile rising in her throat as her stomach cramped painfully.

"We have food poisoning, in case you missed that," Skye added from her spot across the room, one eye cracked open to watch them.

"Oh God," Jemma gulped, rolling off the couch until she was kneeling on the floor, grabbing at the garbage can as she started retching. Fitz scrunched up his nose but reached forward, gathering her hair out of her face with one hand as he used the other to rub circles into her spine.

"You're alright," he whispered, trying to keep his sympathetic nausea at bay as Jemma coughed, her hands shaking as she finally stopped vomiting. She felt dizzy with exhaustion and lack of oxygen, her lungs screaming at her as she gulped in air. "Come on, let's get you to bed," he encouraged. Jemma looked up at him from beneath her lashes, eyes red rimmed. She wanted nothing more that to curl up and sleep, but her limbs ached and shook, weak from her violent illness.

"I don't think I can walk," she muttered, not quite meeting his gaze, embarrassment coursing through her. She knew Fitz was her best friend and that he would never look at her as being weak for suffering from an ailment, but she couldn't help but fear he would. That, like so many others, he would look at her simply as someone that wouldn't be able to take care of herself. She wanted to cry, body hurting and tired. He frowned for a moment as he noticed the way her eyes started to water, his hand coming up to swipe at a stray tear before helping her back up onto the sofa.

"I'll be right back," he assured her, grabbing the bin and disappearing. He reappeared a few minutes later, a determined expression on his face. "Come on Love," he said. The term of endearment caught her by surprise, her entire mind so focused on feeling sick that she had forgotten that they were trying to convince Skye they were together.

"Fitz," Jemma started, eyes widening slightly as she felt him reach down, one arm going under her legs while the other wrapped around her back before he lifted her from the sofa. She panicked for a moment, fearing he would drop her, but when he moved confidently towards the bunks she stopped, letting her aching head rest against his shoulder. She knew it was an act, but she couldn't help but seek the comfort he was offering, the safety of his arms around her shaking off the fears that were fluttering through her mind.

"How long have you been sick?" Fitz questioned, gingerly lowering Jemma down onto her bed, the covers already drawn back and a pair of loose fitting clothes laid out on the mattress. She looked at the obvious effort he had put into getting things ready for her, the clothes ones she wore when she needed comfort and the clean, empty bin tucked next to the bed. Jemma took a few deep breaths before answering.

"A few hours. It came on relatively quickly after we finished eating," she explained, curling into her pillow. "I don't like not feeling well," she confessed quietly, hiding her face in the cool fabric of the sheets. Fitz smiled sadly down at her, sitting on the edge of the mattress and stroking her hair.

"I know," he replied. "Why don't you change into your pyjamas and then I'll sit with you for a bit. Maybe you can get some sleep." She groaned softly in reply, looking up at him pitifully.

"Fine," she grumbled, sitting up weakly and grabbing for the clothes. Fitz ducked into the hall for a few minutes, letting her change in private as he wandered back to check on Skye. Coulson was sitting in one of the vacant chairs reading the newspaper, his eyes occasionally flickering to where Skye was bemoaning her existence. Confident that the other woman was in good hands with their boss, he returned to Jemma's bunk, knocking on the door softly before letting himself in. Jemma was curled in a ball again, her features pained.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked, sitting down by her hip again. She shook her head, whimpering softly. She desperately wanted to send him for anti-nausea medication but she knew it would probably just end up coming back out again.

"I just don't want to feel sick anymore," she said. Taking a deep breath, Fitz climbed over her, sitting himself against her headboard with his legs stretched in front of him.

"I'm sorry." He tried not to jump too much when she rolled over, lying her head on his lap, her fingers, trembling slightly from the exhaustion of being ill so many times, clinging to the fabric of his jeans. Not knowing what else to do, he resumed stroking her hair with his left hand, his right coming to rest against her fingers, trying to ease their grip on his trousers. She tried not to groan happily at the sensation, the way his fingers moved through her hair easing the ache in her head.

"Will you stay?" she asked, voice quiet in the silence of the room. So quiet, in fact, that he almost missed her question, the words lost into the blue fabric and the flesh of his leg.

"Always," he replied, trying desperately to ignore the way she snuggled herself even closer.

Jemma fell asleep not long after, her breathing evening out until the rhythm of her chest rising and falling became a balm to his own nerves, dragging him into his own slumber.

XxX

When he woke up the next morning, he was lying flat on the mattress, blankets bunched around his waist and Jemma flopped across him, her head tucked under his chin. It took him a moment to realise that what had woken him was the door opening, Skye standing in the doorway.

"I get Coulson watching me puke half the night while he's reading and Jemma gets you cuddling her. Not fair," Skye groaned, her eyes tired even as she smiled at them. Fitz struggled against the urge to panic. To shove Jemma off of him and bolt for the door. To hide in his own bunk until he could get his pounding heart under control.

"Couldn't leave her. Looked right pitiful," he commented, voice rough with sleep as he struggled to find something to say. Skye chuckled, shaking her head as Jemma let out a sigh, snuggling against Fitz's chest. On impulse he kissed the crown of her head, his hand that had been lying limp on the bed coming to curl around her hip, the tips of two fingers inadvertently finding the bare skin of her hip where her top had ridden up in her sleep.

"Shhh, you're too loud. Head still hurts," Jemma muttered, burying her face in the fabric of his shirt.

"I'll get some ibuprofen," Skye laughed, leaving the doorway to head for the medicine cabinet down the hall. Still feeling awkward but pushing the feelings away in favour of letting himself bask in the feeling of Jemma lying with him, he managed to find his voice again.

"How're you feeling?" he questioned, breath ruffling her hair.

"Better, aside from the headache. Probably dehydrated," Jemma answered, groaning slightly as she shoved herself up into a sitting position, rubbing a hand over her eyes. She scrunched her nose up at the residual taste in her mouth, taking the cup of water and pills from Skye the minute the other woman came back into the room. Fitz, for his part, struggled into his own sitting position, keeping a slight distance from Jemma as she downed the water. "Thank you." She said after a beat, setting the glass down on the bedside table.

"Of course. It's the least I could do after accidentally poisoning you last night," Skye joked. Jemma rolled her eyes, shoving herself to her feet a moment later. Fitz jumped up when she swayed slightly, his hands coming to rest on her hips to steady her.

"I'm alright Fitz," she assured him, glancing up at him over her shoulder. "Just stood up too fast." He frowned, nodding as he released her, watching her pad off to the bathroom.

"You're so gone for her," Skye commented with a chuckle, shaking her head as she left the room, leaving Fitz to stand awkwardly on his own in the middle of Jemma's bunk. Skye had no idea how right she was.

XxX

The next few days were busy enough that they didn't have to feign too much contact or affection with one another, everyone wrapped up in their own projects and parts of their mission. When things finally calmed down, Fitz decided to return to his decision of just allowing himself to be as demonstrative with Jemma as he always wanted to. He couldn't get the feeling of her sleeping on his chest out of his mind as he walked up behind her in the kitchen that evening, knowing that Skye was just a few paces behind him in the hallway.

"What're you making?" he queried, taking a deep breath before wrapping his arms around Jemma's waist, resting his head on her shoulder. He felt her jump, one hand coming to grip at his wrist before she relaxed.

"Pasta," she replied, the hand that wasn't on his arm moving so that she could stir the penne in the pot of water on the stove.

"You're not still feeling unwell, are you?" he asked, concerned. Although Jemma had appeared better the last few days, he was still worried as she hadn't been eating very much.

"Mhm, just taking it easy for a few days," she replied, fingers stroking over the bones in his wrist. Fitz bit his bottom lip, nervous as he closed his eyes, nosing at her hair and breathing in her shampoo.

"Alright," he answered. "Do you want me to help you with anything?"

"You could make some salad," Jemma suggested, all out giggling at his groan against her ear.

"Salad. Revolting thought," he muttered, giving her one more squeeze before he released her, heading towards the fridge to retrieve the lettuce.

"Oh it's not that bad," she called, a soft smile on her features as she watched him grab the vegetables and place them on the counter.

"Chocolate is still better," he retorted, moving towards the sink.

"Hey Fitz?" Jemma said, voice dropping so that only he could hear her. He turned immediately, expression concerned at the change in her tone.

"Yes?"

"I never thanked you for the other night. I know you're not that keen on... well, sick people. I just... I really appreciated you being there. I felt really horrible." Jemma's dark eyes glanced up to meet his, a strange look in them as she held his gaze.

"Of course. And it's you. I couldn't leave you when you were feeling unwell," he said, feeling like suddenly the air had been sucked out of the room. Without making the conscious decision to do so, he found himself moving back towards Jemma, his hands coming to rest on her arms, holding her elbows. "I would do anything for you," he whispered as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Jemma's eyes fluttered shut at the contact, her heart pounding beneath her ribs as she revelled in the sensation of Fitz's lips against her skin. "Better watch the pasta, the water is about to boil over," he mumbled against her as he pulled away, a slight blush on his cheeks as he returned to the salad. Jemma swore under her breath, grabbing the pot and moving it away from the burner to decrease the temperature.

Neither noticed May standing in the doorway, a look of concern on her face.


	5. Act Five - Nightmares

She woke up to the sound of screaming. Half asleep, she managed to kick off her blankets, stumbling out of her bunk and towards the doorway of Fitz's room, punching in the code by rote memory. Skye and May were coming towards her as well, but she paid them no heed, shoving her way inside the room to find Fitz thrashing around in his sleep, his covers twisted around his waist. He moaned, eyes scrunched up, before letting out a distressed whine.

"Fitz, wake up," Jemma said, crouching down next to the bed and placing her hand on his shoulder. He flinched away, a sob breaking out of his throat. "Fitz, it's alright; you're alright," she pressed, leaning forward until she was practically whispering the words directly into his ear. He stiffened for a second then, eyes popping open as he looked around, nearly frantic. Jemma leaned back so that he could see her properly, her hand coming to push his bangs off his forehead. "See? There you are. Everything is –"

Her words were cut off as he let out a cry, lurching forward until he could wrap his arms around her, hauling her onto the bed in a fierce hug. Jemma froze for only a second before she felt tears soaking into her neck, the hair that had escaped her plait in sleep quickly becoming damp.

"Jem," Fitz whimpered, holding her tightly, his body shaking as he tried to pull himself out of the nightmare he had endured, the vision of her being swept out of the plane flashing behind his eyelids with startling clarity, her fall ending on rocks instead of safely in the water in his mind.

"I've got you," she answered softly, one hand going around his shoulders reflexively while the other hand moved to stroke his hair. Aware of May and Skye at the door now, she pressed soft kisses to his temple, shifting on the bed until she found herself straddling his lap. Despite the insinuation of the position, she found that she revelled in it even in a non-sexual way, enjoying how she felt both in control and yet utterly protected in his lap. "I've got you," she whispered again, closing her eyes and inhaling the smell of his shampoo as she felt him slowly calming, his breathing finally levelling out until he was able to pull back, looking up at her with sad, tear stained eyes.

"I... I'm sorry I woke you," he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face before reaching for the tissues on the bedside table to blow his nose.

"Nonsense," Jemma replied, leaning back only marginally while he completed the task, tucking herself to his chest again the second the tissue was in the bin. Paying the other women no heed, she sighed, trying to convince herself that she didn't adore the feeling of being so close to him. "Do you want me to stay?" she asked quietly. Fitz stiffened beneath her before finally noticing their audience out of the corner of his eye, his posture only losing a tiny fraction of its rigidity as he answered.

"Please. I always... I think I'll sleep better with you here," he said, feeling his cheeks heat slightly as he closed his eyes, pushing his nose into her hair.

"You two alright?" May inquired from the doorway.

"Yes, thank you," Jemma responded, glancing over at the older woman. Skye looked conflicted before the pilot gave a curt nod, grabbing the hacker by the arm and steering her away and out of the room's entrance, the door sliding shut a moment later. Fitz let out a heavy sigh, his hands dropping to his sides the second they were alone.

"If we wait a few minutes they should be back in bed and you can go back to your bunk," he said, looking down into his lap, blushing when he noticed how she was still sitting there. Jemma frowned.

"Do you want me to leave?" she questioned before barreling on. "I don't mind staying Fitz. I'm worried about you. I... I've never heard you screaming in your sleep like that." He nodded, movements shaky as he nudged her off his legs, letting her settle onto the mattress next to him. Instead of staying seated like he anticipated her doing, Jemma managed to kick at his blankets until they were in some semblance of order before curling up beneath them on her side, her head resting on his pillow as she waited for him to lie back. Heart pounding from not simply the remnants of his dream, he lay down, trying to keep as much room as possible between them, despite the size of the mattress. "Do you want to talk about your nightmare?"

"No," he said the word quickly and with more vehemence than he intended, flinching at the panic he could hear in his own voice. "I mean... I can't. Not... not yet. I just... I don't know if I'm going to be able to get back to sleep Jemma, I might just stay here and stare at the ceiling. Surely you would benefit from at least getting some sleep tonight?" he rambled.

"Shh," she hushed him gently, reaching out until her hand was resting on his shoulder, her thumb tracing tiny circles on the joint. "Close your eyes."

"Jemma –"

"Please Fitz, let me at least try to help," she murmured. Sighing and still achingly aware of how close she was, he followed her instructions, letting his eyelids flutter until his lashes touched his cheeks. Despite being exceedingly aware of her proximity, he felt himself slipping back towards sleep quickly at the feeling of Jemma stroking his shoulder. He felt her lips press to his forehead just before his body gave up wakefulness, his heart seizing at the wave of love that swept through him.

XxX

Fitz awoke slowly, his arm tightening around the warm body that rested against his chest as he buried his nose further into the fragrant hair that was spilling across his pillows. He knew he should be panicking, but he couldn't bring himself to care, too busy revelling in the sensations he knew would be fleeting at best. Jemma sighed in her sleep, rolling over in his arms cuddling into his chest, her breath puffing against his neck. Fitz blinked down at her, confused at her comfort at the closeness, but he shrugged, pulling her even tighter against him as he felt her snake a leg between his. He bit his lip, his body instantly starting to react to the movement. Begrudgingly, he took a deep breath, readying to extract himself from her when the door creaked open, Skye popping her head around.

"Awww," she giggled, unable to restrain herself from the reaction. Ward's head appeared behind hers for a moment, the specialist rolling his eyes before he continued off down the hall, leaving a beaming Skye and a blushing Fitz in his wake. Jemma squirmed at the noise, Fitz desperately trying to keep his hips away from her thigh as the friction drew more blood down into his lap.

"Jemma, wake up," he rumbled, voice still thick with sleep. She whimpered in reply, cuddling closer for a fraction of a second before pulling back and blinking, her eyes roving up his neck before meeting his gaze. She took a moment to recognize his expression as one of conflicted emotions before she rolled onto her back, seeing Skye in the doorway, the younger woman covering her mouth as she tried to stifle her laughter.

"Good morning Skye," Jemma muttered, rubbing her eyes before she pulled away from Fitz, sitting up and swinging her legs over the bed, the covers moving with her. Fitz sat up hastily, his knees jerking upwards until he was able to keep his lap from both women's eyes, glad that neither seemed to be paying him much attention as he willed his cock to behave. "I'm going to go grab a shower," she added, turning around to lean down and peck Fitz on the lips, stroking his cheek before she strode from the room, nudging Skye away from the door as she left, the clasp clicking back into place a second later as the women disappeared from view. Fitz blinked, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he swore under his breath.

"I'm so fucked," he moaned, scrubbing a hand over his face before flopping back on the bed.

XxX

Jemma ignored Skye's excited rambling as the hacker followed her back to her own bunk, the woman bouncing on her bed as Jemma grabbed what she needed for the shower, her own mind spinning. She couldn't believe she had just kissed Fitz. Yes, it had been chaste, and so quick that it was over before it had ever really begun. But it didn't take away the spark that had been ignited inside her from the combination of his lips against hers or the feeling of his cock against her leg a mere few moments before. She knew he would be embarrassed if he found out she had felt it, but she couldn't help but go over every detail her mind could recall. The heat of it, the firmness of his skin pressing against the fabric of his trousers as it pushed against her leg.

"You guys are so adorable," Skye was gushing, having lain down on Jemma's bed to stare at the ceiling as she continued to lament them.

"Mmhmm," Jemma muttered, trying to keep her facial expressions under control as she inadvertently squeezed her thighs together, feeling her body pulse with arousal, wetness pooling in the thin fabric of her knickers. "I really have to get that shower Skye, lots to do today," she added, grabbing her towel before heading out into the hall and towards the lavatory.

"Spoil sport! We're not done with this conversation Simmons!" Skye yelled after her. Jemma paid her no heed, ducking into the bathroom as quickly as she could manage before she locked the door, glad that the hour was slightly odd meaning that no one else was vying for the shower. She leaned into the stall, turning on the water before stripping, biting her lip when her own hand grazed over her breast, the nipple tightening instantly.

She knew that Fitz's reaction to her was more than likely just biology. Most men would experience some form of arousal first thing in the morning. It was natural. And yet she couldn't help but wonder if it was _her_ who had brought about such a response. Had it happened before? Was he as attracted to her as she was to him? Biting her lip, she stepped into the shower, the warm water coursing down over her skin.

She wondered what Fitz would do if he were to walk into the bathroom now, finding her naked and aroused. Would he like who she was beneath her clothing? Beneath the gleam of the bathroom lights where science only held the role of her biological and physiological reactions? Would he be overcome by desire for her? Would he tear his own clothes off before joining her in the shower, pressing her into the wall as his mouth would plunder hers? Would he grip her hips as he pulled her against him as he pushed inside her?

Running her hands up from her hips to her breasts, she grabbed at herself, pinching her nipples before squeezing her whole breasts in her hands, her centre throbbing at the sensation. She left one hand to palm her chest while the other slipped down her stomach, coming to a halt between her legs as she gently stroked her clit with one finger. Part of her wanted to be patient, to drag out her release, while the majority of her was desperate for it. Having woken up wrapped in Fitz's arms had done something to her; all her romantic notions suddenly bubbling to the surface.

If he asked why she kissed him, she would blame Skye's presence but, in reality, it had been a compulsion. The need to know what it would feel like to place her lips against his in such a way that was normal for them. Something they would do every day upon waking and going to sleep. Something that, perhaps, he would even drop on her while they were working if they had a breakthrough or he saw her getting frustrated. Knowing what chaste felt like, her mind had instantly wandered to what it would be like to kiss him passionately. To feel his hands on her body and his tongue gliding against hers.

She could feel the anticipation rising in her, imagining blue eyes raking over her body as her own fingers slid up and down her centre, one pressing into her as she let out a hiss. She imagined his eyes darkening with lust, his capable hands roving over her hips and thighs, pulling at her until he would have her against the wall where he wanted her. She moaned slightly, the hand that had been playing with her nipple reaching blindly up until she could grab the shower head, pulling the centre portion from the wall until she was able to glide the stream across her skin. The hand between her legs, slick with her own arousal, came to press against the cool tiles as she moved the spray between her thighs, a soft groan escaping her as she felt the water pounding against her clit.

She moved her hips beneath the stream, the sensations ratcheting up her desire as the torrent beat against her. Carefully, she spread her legs further apart, bucking against the feeling. Unable to control herself, she gave in to the whimpers that wanted to break free, hand moving the spray of the water in tight circles before her orgasm washed over her, unexpected and all consuming as her core clenched against nothing, her eyes nearly rolling back in her head at the intensity.

She slid down the wall, her backside hitting the floor with a soft thwack as her body twitched with aftershocks, a low moan reverberating against the tiles. Panting, she pushed her hand through her damp hair, raking it out of her face. She wondered, vaguely, what it would feel like to have Fitz's head buried between her thighs, his tongue lapping at her. Would he work his mouth over her before he pressed his cock inside her? Would he circle her clit with his thumb as he fucked her?

Still shaking and aroused, she couldn't help but drag her hand back to her centre, pushing two fingers into her sensitive entrance. Her other hand grabbed for the showerhead again, picking it up and directing it back at her clit. Her body jumped, back arching against the wall as she pumped her own fingers in and out, rocking against her hand as the water hit the bundle of oversensitive nerves.

She imagined Fitz looming over her then, his capable hands on her thighs, spreading her legs apart as he opened her up for him, settling between them before pushing inside. His lips trailing kisses down her neck before he would latch onto a nipple, sucking and biting at the skin until she would gasp. Would he look up at her then? Mouth still sealed around her flesh as he would suck, hard, all while bucking into her, desperate for his own release?

Moaning, Jemma dropped the showerhead, her hips hitching against her hand as her muscles contracted in frantic release, pulsing around her fingers. She sagged, body trembling as she panted, chin dropping to her chest as the water continued to rain down on her head, the discarded handheld spraying her calves. Would he kiss her then? Sloppy and yet delicate, filled with the love she had for him?

"Oh God," Jemma sighed, yanking her hand from between her legs before drawing her knees up to her chest. "I'm in love with him."


	6. Act Six - Dissolution of Paradise

Fitz rubbed his eyes as he waited for the coffee to percolate, resting his head against the cabinets in the kitchen. He had slept well once Jemma was with him, but the previous bout of sleep had been fleeting and painful at best, leaving him riddled with residual exhaustion. He felt as if he could curl up and nap the day away if he let himself. Despite the desire, however, he still found himself envisioning Jemma falling from the plane when he allowed his lids to slip closed.

"You need to be careful," May's voice sounded, startling him to the point of jumping, smacking his forehead against the cupboard. Swearing, Fitz pulled back, rubbing at where he had struck himself against the wood before regarding the older woman.

"Sorry?" he queried, unsure what she was talking about.

"I don't know what you and Simmons are up to, but you need to be careful," May said, shedding little light on her comment. Fitz frowned, feeling his pulse increase. Surely May didn't –

"I don't know what you mean," he stumbled, cringing when his voice cracked slightly. May scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"You both failed your field tests for a reason Fitz," May smirked, sitting down at the table and grabbing an apple, letting her eyes skim over the red surface as she looked for blemishes.

"We're not – Jemma and I – it's –" he scrambled, suddenly panicking. He assumed Skye would eventually figure out that they were faking, but to have May do it when she had seen so little of their interactions was alarming. Although, in retrospect, he figured he should have seen it coming, considering who she was and what she had done in her own life. He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he leaned against the edge of the counter, coffee long forgotten behind him. "It's not what you think?"

"Look, Fitz, what you and Simmons get up to is your business. Messing with Skye is your affair. I don't want any part of it. However, I also don't want to see you or Simmons get hurt in all of this," May explained, taking a bite of the apple.

"We're fine. We both know what we're doing," Fitz defended, voice still tired as May raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing it.

"Just be careful Fitz, that's all I'm saying," she added, standing up from the table and walking back towards the cockpit. He watched her go before sighing loudly, letting the back of his head thump against the cupboards repeatedly for a few seconds before turning back to his initial task of making coffee. He knew where he stood. He knew that despite what he felt, that he and Jemma was just friends. That their fake tryst meant nothing other than a way to mess with Skye. Surely Jemma knew that too.

XxX

Apparently, he was wrong. He had barely downed his coffee when Coulson came in, whisking them all into the back of a van and off to find an 0-8-4. Jemma sat next to him but seemed jumpy, her eyes tired as she fidgeted in her seat.

"You alright?" he questioned, reaching over to catch her fingers in his own. Jemma visibly flinched, snatching her hand back as if he had burned her. Stunned, he couldn't help but let his jaw fall open slightly, eyes flickering back and forth between where his hand hung empty in the air and to Jemma's face, noticing the blush that painted her cheeks.

"I'm fine," she said, shifting around until she could put as much distance between them as the small back seat allowed. Fitz swallowed, nodding as he took his hand back, dropping it down into his own lap.

"Right," he muttered, turning away from her to look out the window. He figured she was just tired and jumpy. Surely she hadn't slept well either the previous night, and Skye's rude awakening that morning, coupled with the overly intimate position they had been found in. Surely she was just feeling a bit overexposed.

Jemma could practically feel herself trembling as a parade of emotions swept through her. She desperately wanted to cling to Fitz, to let him wrap her up in an embrace and allow all her rampant desires to find a place in reality. The other, more logical, part of her was terrified. She had no idea if Fitz felt anything for her, despite what Skye had said and, in order to protect herself, she knew she needed to back away from the simple affections she had been allowing as of late. He had never held her hand as her friend. She couldn't allow the line between friendship and something more to blur any further or else she felt that she may never recover.

Her revelation from the shower that morning had rattled her to the core. She knew she had felt something for Fitz before. That she had a crush on him when they were at the Academy. That she enjoyed the pseudo-physical role their playing pretend had allowed her. That she felt safe in his embrace and longed to have him hold her while she slept. But the realisation that she was in love with him – true, kisses waking one from sleep, birds flying around with glass slippers, and be with you till you die, love – was a startling notion. One she could barely wrap her head around. He was her best friend. True, she had fantasised about him before, but now it was not simply wanting to sleep with him, but wanting to spend the rest of her life with him. To grow old together, maybe settle down one day, to maybe have children or a dog and to just be with one another. It scared her. And when Jemma was scared, she tended to deny and run.

She was so intent on convincing herself to keep away from Fitz that she took in little of the instructions Coulson and Ward were giving as they drove, Skye's bubbly questions filling the van while Fitz sat in silence next to her, fingers tapping against his leg. She didn't take in the instructions of not to touch the 0-8-4 with bare hands. Nor the reminder that there were probably going to be people with guns around it. That there were people who were already dead in relation to said artefact. She didn't bother to hear how they had to be stealthy and not draw attention to themselves when walking through the various corridors of the well populated building less they create a bigger scene than absolutely necessary. All she cared about in that moment was distancing herself from the man next to her and his gentle hands, calming smell, and the heartbreaking way his eyes would light up at the sight of her.

It wasn't until they were in a hallway, the sounds of hastened footsteps rushing towards them, that she realised she should have paid more attention.

"Fitz?" she gasped, eyes wide as her heart pounded. She knew she was panicking. That she was utterly unprepared for what could be rounding the corner, her expression terrified as she turned to the man next to her. For his part, Fitz only looked marginally calmer, his eyes flicking back and forth between her and the corner of the hallway as he tried to come up with a plan. She could see his hands shaking and the way his posture was rigid, hit teeth worrying his bottom lip.

"Fuck, Jemma, I'm sorry," he blurted, grabbing her and shoving her against the wall. She barely had time to inhale before he was pressing his lips against hers. Jemma felt her head swim at the contact. It was everything she wanted and yet everything she desperately wanted to avoid all in one. Unable to stop herself, she felt her hands wander, one pressing to his back while the other grabbed at his neck, keeping him against her as they kissed. Fitz let out a low sound from the back of his throat as he pushed just a little bit harder against her, the hand that was cupping her face stroking over her cheek while the other trailed up and down her side, careful to not stray too close to her breast.

"Hey! Go do that somewhere else!" a man's voice bellowed, shattering the trance they had both fallen into. Fitz backed away, utterly scarlet as he rubbed at the back of his neck, shooting them a sheepish glance.

"Sorry," he managed to mutter, grabbing Jemma's hand and pulling her down the hall and away from the men. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid. Surely there had been another way that they could have distanced themselves from danger. That he could have kept them from being discovered. Instead, he had found himself breaking the one rule he made for himself when he decided to allow himself to be affectionate with Jemma. And after feeling her kiss him, he knew it had been a grave error. He didn't know if he could ever look at her without feeling the resounding love for her pounding through his veins.

As soon as they were out of sight, Jemma tore her hand away from him, eyes wide as she glared at him.

"What the hell was that?" she snapped, keeping her voice low as they entered into one of the larger rooms of the museum, trying to keep a low profile as they slipped around a school group.

"That was me trying to keep us from getting killed," Fitz retorted, trying not to feel hurt by her ire.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jemma demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and dodging away from the hand Fitz attempted to place on the small of her back to guide her towards the room where Skye was supposed to be. He glared slightly, shoving his hand into his pocket as he felt himself quickly becoming riled up. He wasn't sure who his anger was directed at, even as he spat out a reply. After all, he wasn't sure what was going on with Jemma's reluctance to be around him now, nor was he sure why he had so willingly defied his own restrictions that he put on himself.

"Christ Jemma, were you not listening at all when Ward was briefing us? There are already ten people dead in relation to this artefact," he snarled, storming ahead of her and into the gallery where Skye was looking at a painting, her expression beyond bored. Jemma gaped at him, not having expected the outburst.

"Just because I won't hold your hand now you're going to treat me like a child?" she hissed, grabbing his elbow and spinning him to face her. She could feel herself becoming nearly dizzy with conflicting emotions even as Coulson's voice sparked through their comms telling them they needed to leave. Now. Fitz scoffed.

"You go ahead and think that," he muttered, turning tail and heading for the door. Skye approached Jemma slowly, not sure what the smaller woman was thinking as emotions played over her face.

"Fuck you!" she spat, earning a glare from one of the museum staff as Skye quickly grabbed her shoulder, steering her out of the room.

"Simmons, keep it together till we get outside," the hacker whispered, eyes darting between Fitz's retreating form and the nearly shaking woman at her side.

"He... he thinks he can just – " Jemma muttered, huffing loudly as they finally made it out into the sunlight, Fitz a block ahead of them and nearly at the van by the time they made it down the front steps. Skye looked worriedly at Jemma, trying to placate the woman as they walked towards the van.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to?" Skye offered, wincing at Jemma's aggravated huff.

"The hell he didn't." She kept herself after that, not wanting to expose Skye to the realities of what they had been doing prior to the incident in the museum. Instead, she stormed into the front seat, displacing a very confused Ward while Fitz shoved himself as far away as possible in the back, arms crossed over his chest as he glared out the window.

"I take it you guys don't want to stop for kebabs then?" Coulson offered as he climbed into the driver's seat, feeling the tension from the two British agents. When neither said anything and Ward and Skye offered him awkward looks he nodded, putting the car into gear and heading back towards the plane.

Jemma and Fitz didn't speak to one another the rest of the week. Jemma wasn't sure who she was more cross with. Fitz, for breaking down the last of her walls, or herself, for feeling her heart shatter at the idea that she had broken not only their friendship, but maybe anything else they could have been.

"I should have just let him hold my hand," she thought sadly, locking herself away in her bunk the minute they were back at the plane. She couldn't handle seeing anyone just then.

XxX

She was sitting on the couch late Friday night, reading a journal when Fitz came to sit next to her, nudging her knee with his own gently before he started speaking.

"We need to stop," Fitz said, not looking up from his hands to see how Jemma would react. "This... we need to finish this. I... if you want to do this once more, we can. Or we can fake a break up. Whatever. I just... I think this needs to stop. It's impacting how we are around one another and I don't want to hurt our friendship Jemma. It means too much to me." He stuttered through a few of the words, voice hitching, the change in pitch indicative of how nervous he was to bring up the topic.

Jemma watched him as he stumbled, fingers playing with a loose thread on his jeans as he sighed. She knew he was right. Maybe, if they stopped pretending they had a physical relationship she could figure out where they stood. If there was something that she could hope for or if she needed to simply tamp down her feelings and move forward. Fitz was right, however. Their friendship was going to be harmed at the rate they were going. After all, they hadn't spoken in days, too wound up in their own anger and insecurity. And all from a kiss that was a way to keep from being shot.

In the ten years they had known one another, aside from the first few months when they didn't speak, she had never felt insecure or awkward around him until the last few days. And she knew it was her own fault. That if she hadn't allowed herself to constantly want to be close to him or to succumb to her own desires, that maybe she could have looked at it with a more scientific mind. But she was only human and had allowed her emotions to rule her.

"You're right," she agreed, voice barely above a whisper as she sunk onto the couch next to him, keeping a few inches between them no matter how much it hurt her to do so. "Once more, then. And... and then we can just say that... that perhaps it isn't working out or we want to concentrate on our work and are putting our personal lives on hold for a while."

"Right. When?"

"Tomorrow. I'll... I'll come to yours after dinner." She needed to get it over with. If it wasn't for the fact she knew Skye was already asleep, she would have suggested right then, needing to pull away from the hole she had dug herself into.

"Alright. Goodnight Jemma."

She didn't look up as he left, too busy trying to hide the tears that were swimming behind her lashes. She just hoped she hadn't already ruined their friendship beyond repair simply because she was tired of Skye insinuating there was something more between them. Turned out, Skye had been right. She just wished she had realised it before they had started their charade.


	7. Act Seven - And the Orchestra Swells

The next day was uneventful, no mission going on, little to nothing to work on in the lab. Instead, Jemma had to contend with knowing what she and Fitz were going to do that evening while also having the entire day to ruminate on the fear that she had destroyed everything between them.

Fitz, at the same time, was struggling to come to terms with the reality of what he called his life. Before the charade had begun, he had simply known that he had feelings for Jemma but was content in the fact that she was his best friend above all else. Having allowed himself to be swallowed by the fantasy of what it would be like to be with her, however, left him feeling hollow. He wondered if he would ever be able to hold her hand again. Or to allow her to curl up in his lap if she was upset or unwell. Would she ever be comfortable with him touching her again? She had seemed so livid at him kissing her, even though it was for a mission.

He nearly jumped when, an hour after dinner finished, he heard her soft knock on the door, calling out to her that it was open while desperately hoping she wouldn't see the sadness he knew was lurking behind his eyes. He didn't know what he was going to do if things couldn't go back to some semblance of normal between them. He would have to leave the Bus. It was more of Jemma's dream, anyway, to travel around the world and see new things. He was more content in a lab that didn't fly. He just wished he could keep having both.

"Skye is just finishing with Ward for the night and then she said she was going to watch a film on her computer," Jemma offered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Fitz nodded, motioning her to move further into the room which she did, albeit hesitantly. She flopped onto the ground next to his bedside table, leaning her back against the wall, her position so similar to that of what it had been the first night they started this that Fitz's chest ached.

Jemma couldn't help but feel immensely nervous and awkward. From the minute she ducked into Fitz's room, she had been fighting the urge to flee, sitting in a stilted silence as they waited for Skye to enter her room. Fitz offered her his tablet when she had started shredding a Kleenex that she found in her pocket, allowing her to fiddle with the device instead. She had spent the previous evening and the entire day trying to prepare for their last attempt at faking sex which had, unfortunately for the man in front of her, involved her skimming through some less than realistic pornography on the internet.

When the door to Skye's room finally slapped shut, Jemma almost jumped out of her skin, shifting around on the floor until Fitz sighed, grabbing her by the elbow and hauling her up onto the bed, letting her sit on one end of the mattress while he remained on the other, flipping his phone over and over in his hands.

"Right," he mumbled, glancing at her as Jemma tried to school her features, keeping her eyes firmly on the tablet as she took a deep breath.

"I'm so hot," she said, voice breathy. Fitz tried not to balk at her ability to say such a thing with little prompting, especially considering how things had been between them since the museum. "I think this needs to come off."

"L-let me help you with it?" he offered, having not prepared for there to be dialogue aside from what they had done before. In truth, they hadn't discussed any of the specifics for this interaction, unlike the ones before. He had no idea what she was expecting from him, nor what she was planning to attempt to do. Would she want some non-descript sex? Something kinky? Something that would end with her screaming at him and storming out? He couldn't help but feel his heart plummet into his stomach at the thought that even their exaggerated and pretend sex could easily dissolve into another screaming match, one which, if he wasn't careful, could have more detrimental impact on his mind that she would likely ever know. Instead of giving him any clues or direction, Jemma made a point of lightly thumping her hand against the mattress before letting out an exaggerated moan.

"Yes, oh, suck my nipples," she said, tapping away at the tablet as he tried not to fall off the bed.

So, Jemma had come to the conclusion that they should be loud for their final tryst. And very descriptive. Fitz had no idea why that was her train of thought, but he winced at the result, his body fighting between intense arousal and slight horror at the vocabulary that was springing from Jemma's mouth. He hadn't ever viewed her as prude, not really, but there was a line between realistic sex and something that was from a bad porno that he had probably come across when he was a teenager.

Fitz cringed at the positively raunchy sentences that were spewing from her, each one more embellished than the next.

"Jemma, hush," he hissed, trying to keep his voice low as she let out another fake moan, flicking through the magazine she was reading on the tablet.

"Oh God, yes, I'm so wet," she groaned, letting out a set of gasps a moment later. He grimaced, grabbing her wrist. "You going to put it in me? Please Fitz, let me have it. I want your dick."

"Jemma -"

"Fuck me with that hard cock-" He couldn't take it anymore, his mind spinning as he pulled her towards him, crushing his lips to hers in an attempt to get her to stop. Jemma froze against him, her eyes going wide at the contact. Fitz almost instantly pulled back, his cheeks flushing crimson as he looked at her. He couldn't believe that he had done it again. That he had kissed her. Again.

He knew it had ended so poorly the first time and yet, in a desperate endeavour to make the horrible, yet still arousing script, stop he had seen no other alternative. A twisted part of his mind, the one fearing how she would likely never be able to be friends with him in the way she was before they had begun, had just wanted to feel her lips against his one more time. Even if it left a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Jemma, I'm so-" he started, unable to finish the thought as she launched herself at him, the tablet falling to the ground as she pressed her lips to his, her tongue invading his mouth almost instantly as her hands clutched at his hair and neck. Since he had kissed her in the museum Jemma had been able to think of little else. How he had brushed his tongue against hers. How he had stroked his hand along her side. How it felt to have his body pressing hers into the nearest surface. How her heart had positively hammered in glee at finally knowing what it felt like to be kissed by the man she was hopelessly in love with.

Fitz pulled back again for a moment, holding her by the shoulders as he looked into her eyes, searching for her intent behind her irises. She was terrified that he would stop, that he would call a halt to what she so desperately wanted, but he evidently found what he was searching for, as a moment later he dove back in, consumed by arousal.

Jemma found herself suddenly lowered to the bed as their tongues danced with one another, Fitz lying on top of her as his hands started to wander, one lacing with hers on the pillow while the other skimmed down to her waist, his fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. She felt almost dizzy, the sensation of his cock, hot and hard beneath his jeans, pressing into her thigh making her head spin.

"Can I?" Fitz breathed, tugging gently at the edge of her shirt, the frantic kisses slowing and leaving Jemma feeling almost fragile in his arms. She nodded, gasping for air before they were kissing again, Fitz's hands pulling her into a sitting position before delving beneath her shirt, yanking it off over her head as his fingers went to the back of her bra, deftly unclasping the lace fabric. She untangled her arms from his neck long enough to let him strip the bra from her, dropping it over the edge of the bed to join her discarded tablet and jumper.

With shaking hands she quickly divested him of his shirt, her fingers skimming down his chest as her nails gingerly scraped at the skin there, ending their descent at his belt buckle. She broke away from his lips to pant against this neck, moving back just enough to blink up at him from beneath her lashes as his gaze wandered from her face down to her breasts, one hand coming up to cup the flesh, his thumb flicking over her nipple and making her gasp. Fitz trembled slightly at the sound, suddenly realising how different her noises of arousal were from the ones she had been faking. They were more delicate and breathy, laced with broken whimpers. Keeping their eyes locked she undid his belt, pulling the leather from the loops on his jeans before flicking the button open and going for his zipper. He grabbed her wrist, kissing her palm.

"We don't have to -" he started.

"I want to. I've wanted to for longer than I even realised," she replied, conviction in her voice as she pulled the tab down, her hand quickly sliding into his trousers and beneath the fabric of his pants, finding his erection with ease. She wrapped her hand around him, squeezing slightly before he shoved her back into the pillows, capturing her lips again.

"God you're beautiful," he whispered, trailing kissing down her neck until he could latch onto one of her breasts, suckling at her nipple before he raked his teeth over the swollen bud. She gasped, hips arching off the bed at the sensation, feeling wetness pool between her thighs. His hands continued their way down, skimming beneath the fabric of her yoga pants before tugging them down and off her body, kneeling up only long enough to shove his own clothing off until they were both completely naked.

Jemma wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of her, kissing him as she let her thighs drop open, cradling him between them. His one hand went to her waist while the other rested by her head, his hips rocking against hers of their own volition. She could feel his cock pressed against the crook of her thigh, her blood rushing through her ears at the sensation of his hips nudging against hers, his erection dragging across her dampened centre. Shifting his hips back, he met her gaze, the head of his length pressing against her entrance.

"Please," she whispered against his lips, meeting his eyes as he leaned back to look at her.

"Are you sure? I don't have a -"

"We don't need it. I need to feel you. Please." He couldn't have resisted her if he tried, lacing the fingers of his one hand with hers while the other reached down to guide himself into her, his eyes never leaving her face as he pushed inside. Jemma groaned, her back arching at the sensation as he sank down until they were flush against one another.

"Okay?" Fitz questioned, breath coming in harsh pants as he nudged his nose against hers. Jemma beamed up at him, squeezing his hand before she tilted her pelvis, rocking against him and making him groan.

"Make love to me," she said, voice thick with arousal. He started slow, pulling out just slightly before sinking back in, his movements measured as he let her get used to the sensations. The desire to keep a tempered pace quickly skirted away from him however, his desire for her too great as he grabbed one of her thighs, hitching it higher on his hip before he started to thrust in earnest.

Jemma scrambled for purchase, one hand clinging to his shoulder while the other went to his ass, grabbing at the flesh there to push him against her harder, the friction between them growing with each movement.

"Fucking hell," he growled, nipping at her throat as he increased his pace, the bed frame rocking against the wall as he leaned back just far enough so that he could snake a hand between them, his thumb hastily finding its way down to her clit and circling over it.

"Oh!" He had barely touched her when her orgasm rushed through her body, her muscles clenching tight around his cock as she shook.

"That's right, cum for me, so fucking gorgeous Jem," Fitz panted, moving his hand away from her only so that he could grab both of her hips, his movements becoming frantic. "I'm so close Love. If I don't stop I'm going to-"

She wrapped her legs tightly around his back, still riding the aftershocks of her own release when she felt him stiffen, his hips jumping against hers as he tried to grind even closer, drawing out her pleasure as his own peaked. Fitz bit at her collarbone, groaning loudly as he spilled inside her, hands tightening on her skin for a few seconds. Chest heaving, he pushed himself up, eyes skimming over her features with a mix of awe a fear.

"Hello," she breathed, unable to stifle the giggle that escaped her as she stroked a hand through his curls and down his neck. Fitz turned his face, kissing her palm.

"Hello," he responded, cupping her cheek for a moment before he moved, intent on extracting himself from her. Jemma whimpered in displeasure, her muscles slightly sore from disuse as he disentangled their bodies, his eyes losing focus for a moment as they fell between her legs. Reaching out, he stroked a finger along her entrance, circling her clit for a moment before pushing two digits inside her, his fingers moving easily in their combined release. A guttural moan slipped out of her at the sensation, her mouth going slack as her eyes fluttered shut, relishing in the sensations shooting through her. Panting, she let her hips rock up towards his hand, his digits sinking in just a tiny bit deeper as she gasped. Her breath caught in her throat as he crooked his fingers, setting an almost punishing rhythm as he pumped them in and out, stroking over the sensitive spot inside her, his thumb coming up to circle her clit.

Jemma's body bucked off the bed at the feeling, fisting her hands in the sheets as she let her body try and ride his hand. She keened, a half-sob tearing from her throat as he pushed in harder and faster, his lips latching onto her neck.

"Let go Jem," he breathed, sucking on her pulse. His fingers curled into her again as Jemma let out a moan.

"Fitz!" She gasped, practically bowing off the bed as he coaxed another orgasm from her, her body trembling as it clenched around his fingers, wetness pulsing from her centre. "Oh, God, Fitz!" She couldn't control herself, her hips jumping and working against his hand in frantic circles as she rode out the last few contractions of pleasure before sagging back into the duvet. Leaning up he pressed his lips to hers gently, caressing her cheek as they kissed, letting her come down from her high.

"You okay? That... that wasn't-"

"Too much? No, Fitz, it was perfect. You're perfect," she breathed in response, the kiss she pressed to his Adam's apple sloppy with exhaustion. He grinned down at her, stroking her hair back from her face for a moment before getting up and ducking into the bathroom. He returned a moment later, damp wash cloth in hand.

"Is it okay if I –" he asked, motioning towards her. She nodded sleepily, letting her legs fall open again as he gently cleaned her up, dropping the flannel onto the ground before tugging the duvet and sheet from beneath her body, dropping the thick fabric on the ground before covering her with the thin cotton.

"Come to bed," she mumbled, eyes half-lidded with fatigue, a sleepy smile playing about her lips as she reached for him. Chuckling, Fitz crawled onto the mattress, spooning behind her and burying his nose in her hair.

"Jemma?" he whispered, the word tickling the nape of her neck.

"Mm?" she offered in reply, playing with the fingers of his hand that was resting against her stomach as she struggled to stay awake, the afterglow of orgasm trying to pull her into slumber.

"I... I love you."


	8. Act Eight - Curtain Call

She woke up slowly, feeling warmer and more content that she had in ages, body aching slightly in all the rights ways as she stretched. There's a displeased hum from behind her for a moment before the arm around her waist tightened, pulling her more firmly against the chest that was pressed to her back.

"Please stay," Fitz rumbled, voice rough in a way that made heat pool in her belly and butterflies spread through her body. She sleepily reached for his hand, twining their fingers together where his hand lay below her navel.

"There's nowhere else I would want to be right now," she responded, trying to ignore the way her heart fluttered as he pressed a sleep-sloppy kiss to her shoulder, burying his nose in her hair. Jemma sighed; relaxing in his embrace as the early morning sunlight slowly started streaming in through the tiny cabin window, casting her skin in a golden hue. The feeling of Fitz's breathing against her back quickly lulled her back into a light doze, her hips rocking gently when she felt his hand wander to the juncture of her thighs some time later, his fingers stroking her languidly until she came with a breathy sigh. She rolled onto her back then, drawing him into a tender kiss, her fingers trembling as she cupped his cheek, his stubble prickling against her palm.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, combing a hand through her hair. Jemma felt herself blush from the compliment, kissing his jaw in reply.

" _We've got a new case. Everyone to the meeting room in ten._ " May's voice sounded, the plane changing altitude slightly. Fitz groaned, pressing his forehead against Jemma's.

"Are we okay?" he asked softly, not wanting to break the fragile truce they seemed to have made. Jemma smiled, kissing him quickly again before standing up and stretching. Fitz couldn't help but let his eyes shift to the way her breasts moved as she raised her arms.

"I should say so," she responded, bending to pick up her clothes, making Fitz groan as he flopped back against the bed, scrubbing his hands over his face. "You should leave the scruff – I'd like to see what it feels like on my skin later." The words left her mouth with a teasing lilt, a squeak following a heartbeat later when he jumped up, wrapping his arms around her waist, his arousal pressing into her back.

"You're going to kill me," he groaned, nipping at where her neck met her shoulder and drawing a whimper from her.

"D'you think they'll notice if we're not there?" she asked.

"Unfortunately," he responded, grinding against her slowly before pulling away, his breathing ragged. Jemma giggled, giving him another quick peck before yanking her trousers up. "You really are going to be the death of me," he sighed, grinning the entire time.

"You love me," she laughed, breath hitching when Fitz looped an arm around her waist again.

"You're right. I do." Her gaze softened at the confession, tears gathering in her lashes as she threw her arms around his neck, nuzzling into his shoulder.

"I love you too. Now, get dressed before someone comes looking for us." She felt Fitz's breath shudder out of him before he released her, taking a step back. "We'll talk more later, I promise. But... I don't want this to be an extension of our pretend relationship. I want it to be real and... not just a onetime thing, okay?"

"I don't want it to be pretend or a one off either," he assured her, groaning as he pulled his jeans on, the fabric pressing into his erection. "Sorry to ruin the moment but, I, uh, I need to –"

"Of course. I'll see you in a few minutes?"

"I'll try and be quick."

"Let me give you some inspiration," she whispered, tugging his fly back open and dropping to her knees, enveloping his cock in her mouth and sucking. Hard.

"Jesus fuck –" Fitz gasped, scrambling for something to hold onto as she chuckled, the reverberations bouncing around his erection before she released him with a pop, standing up gracefully. "You need to leave or I'm going to have to take you right now," he moaned. Jemma snickered, winking in response as she yanked her jumper on and ducked into the hall.

He made it to the meeting with thirty seconds to spare.

XxX

Jemma barely took in the mission briefing, quickly realising it was more tactical than scientific. Instead, she focused on the man next to her, his fingers drumming softly on the table as he attempted to pay attention. Her mind was whirring, trying to figure out how she and Fitz were going to work together with such a drastic change in their relationship.

Had anyone asked her at sixteen if she and Fitz would end up together, she would have laughed, assuring them that she and Fitz were only friends. But now she could only remember the feeling of his hands on her; the taste of his mouth as he kissed her and the way she felt more complete in his arms than she had ever before. She wondered if they would have ever gotten it together if she hadn't so desperately wanted Skye to stop bugging her.

"You're going to take down the plane if you think any harder," Fitz teased softly, the hand that wasn't on the table coming to rest on her knee and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding at the sensation, relaxing into the feeling of his hand on her.

"Sorry," she muttered, feeling her cheeks heat as he gave her a soft smile before poking at his tablet again while Coulson finished up, telling everyone to get ready as he left the room.

"You guys can give up the rouse any time," Skye commented as the last of the older agents left, leaning against the table with a tired expression on her face. Both Jemma and Fitz looked at her, confused.

"What rouse?" Jemma asked, watching as Skye rolled her eyes.

"I know you two aren't actually together. You can stop pretending anytime now. Your fake porno dialogue from last night was shit." The two scientists blinked at one another before bursting out laughing.

"But Skye, we are together," Jemma managed in between chuckles, her fingers lacing with Fitz's for support as she tried not to double over on the table. Skye let out an aggravated huff, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure you are. Seriously guys. You had your fun. I get it. I'm sorry I kept on about it. Can you just stop with the fake sex now? It's hard enough sleeping on a plane without that audio track."

"Sure. We'll stop pretending to sleep together," Fitz snickered, wiping at his eyes with the hand that wasn't holding Jemma's.

"Right. No more fake sex," Jemma agreed, dissolving into another laughing fit almost immediately. Skye groaned, throwing her hands up in the air as she left the room, the new couple grabbing at one another in support.

"She took... all this time, she figures out... and now..." Fitz gasped, grinning.

"Hush," Jemma responded, blushing as she checked the room for Coulson before leaning forward to nuzzle her face against his neck. "We aren't lying though. There won't be any more fake sex."

Neither of them noticed May rolling her eyes affectionately from the other side of the window, smiling and shaking her head before heading back to the cockpit.

XxX

Had you asked Fitz if he ever imagined pretending to have sex with Jemma Simmons was going to lead to him actually having sex with her, he would have balked at the idea. Feeling her kisses in the early morning light as she was cradled against him however, made him reconsider everything he thought he knew.

It had been a week since their fabricated life had slipped into reality, the two of them slowly learning one another in the only way they didn't previously know. He still struggled to believe his luck at times, but he also couldn't help but be swallowed by the reality, letting himself get lost in it as Jemma kissed him, pushing her tongue against his while he stroked one hand through her hair, the other keeping her lower back steady.

"Morning," Jemma whispered, nipping at his lips as she feels his cock pressing against her thigh, trying to stifle the giggle that wanted to break free.

"Hello," he replied, rolling his eyes as he nudged her nose with his own, rocking his hips against hers. They were both completely naked, having fallen asleep in one another's arms the night before without bothering to get dressed. Coulson, May and Ward were off doing spy-things (neither paid much attention aside from the fact the three agents would be gone for four whole days) leaving only the two of them and Skye on the Bus.

"Is someone waking up?" she teased, lifting her hand from where it had been on his shoulder to stroke it down over his chest and stomach before allowing it to curl around his erection, rubbing at the slit.

"Mm, definitely," he moaned, dragging his teeth over her jaw before kissing her again, trying to keep himself from thrusting into her grip as she drew circles on him with her thumb. "You might even be able to convince me to become a morning person if this is how my days start." The hand that had been in her hair retaliated almost instantly, moving over her neck before he could close it around a breast, squeezing gently. He tweaked a nipple, smirking at the soft sigh that he was rewarded with before tugging a little harder, Jemma outright moaning as she became distracted from her task.

"Yes, oh, like that," she breathed, squirming slightly. Fitz nibbled at her neck while rolling her nipple between his fingers, revelling in the way that Jemma arched against him, her hand gripping at his hip suddenly as she tried to get one of his legs between hers, desperate for friction. She managed to push herself forward until one leg was slung over his pelvis, grinding against his hip, causing Fitz to moan when he felt how wet she already was. Rubbing against him with hitching little movements, he tried not to grab her too tight, enthralled by the way she was adamantly trying to get herself off against him, her breathing ragged.

"Christ, you do want it, don't you Love?" he muttered, the hand on her back sliding until he could grip her ass, pulling her closer and starting to control the movements she was making.

"Yes," she answered, surging up to kiss him before shoving him onto his back, straddling his stomach suddenly, her breasts swinging from the movement.

"God Jemma," he groaned, lifting his head up until he could catch a nipple in his mouth and suck on it, mind struggling as he tried to focus both on the feeling of her on his tongue and the searing heat that was pressed into his stomach. Rocking her hips, Jemma started moving, hissing as his teeth tugged at her nipple while her ass brushed against his straining cock. Fitz stroked his hands wherever he could reach, up the back of her thighs, over her ribs, clinging to her hips.

"Can I?" she asked, breathlessly as she gently shoved him back down against the pillows.

"Anything Jems," he replied immediately, running his hand up and down her side in a soothing motion.

"You know I do like being in control," she said, voice saucy as she shuffled backwards, the heat of her cunt dragging over him until she was pressed against his pelvis.

"Yeah," he said, swallowing thickly as she leaned up on her knees, one hand on his chest for balance while the other took hold of his erection, teasing it against her wet folds. She rocked back and forth with tiny movements, barely letting him slip inside her before moving away, chuckling at his groan of frustration. "Jemma," he breathed, drawing out her name. "S'too early to be teasing me." Rolling her eyes affectionately she conceded, sighing as he slipped inside her.

"Mmmm." She didn't let him settle for long, pressing her hands against his chest as she started to move against him, revelling in the sensation of his hands coming up to cup her breasts, squeezing her nipples as she swayed. "Open your eyes," she commanded, voice soft in the quiet of the tiny bunk. It took him a minute to comply but Fitz's gaze soon met her own, fluttering down over her body and the light that was cast against her skin. Part of him wanted to flip her over and take her roughly, but the majority was enraptured by the sight of her bouncing above him, movements languid.

Jemma kept her rhythm steady, chewing on her bottom lip at the friction that their coupling caused while Fitz's hands slid down to her hips, eyes focused on the way her breasts swung with each rise and fall of her body. Moving one hand from his pectoral, Jemma slid her fingers between her own legs, rubbing one against her clit, eyes slipping closed while she let out an obscene moan.

"Oh yes," she panted.

"Good?"

"Mm," was her only reply, removing her other hand from his chest so that she could lean backwards, fingers pressing into the muscle of his thigh as she spread her knees wider, giving him a clear view of their conjoined bodies.

"Jesus Christ," Fitz growled, holding her hips tight to his as he bucked up into her, unable to draw his eyes away from how her fingers continued to play over her engorged clit. He was entranced by the sight of her body enveloping his, her swollen centre pink and glistening against his cock as he plunged inside her.

"God, I'm so close," she sighed.

"What do you need Love? This?" He thrust up into her harder, watching how her body jumped at the motion.

"Fuck," she swore, the word nearly punched out of her. Grinning, Fitz repeated the movement. "I... I thought I was in control of this," she murmured, causing him to laugh.

"D'you want me to stop?" he questioned, watching her shake her head, maintaining the rocking of her hips as he pushed into her over and over. Gasping, Jemma ground down against him, her fingers tensing on his thigh, hips snapping back and forth as he managed to move one hand between her legs, joining her fingers as they circled her clit.

"Oh, oh God, yes, right there, please, oh please," Jemma whimpered. He pushed just the slightest bit harder, thrusting up just right and making her cry out, her back arching as she came, her entire body shuddering. He couldn't help but buck up into her at the feeling of her squeezing his cock, moaning as he started to cum, only belatedly hearing the sound of the door opening.

"I told you two to stop pretend– JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!"

Skye's voice echoed through the room, Jemma yelping even as her body surged into another wave of orgasm from the sudden adrenalin rush all while Fitz tried to pull the blanket up over Jemma's arse, his cock still twitching inside her, aching with how hard he was ejaculating.

The door slammed shut a second later, Skye's cursing flowing down the hall as Jemma collapsed against his chest, her nipples dragging against his overly warm skin. She blinked up at him, sleepy from exertion but still blushing.

"Well, I guess she knows we're not pretending anymore," Jemma offered, kissing his shoulder as Fitz chuckled against her hair.

"C'mon, we should go explain," he urged, trying not to moan as she slipped off him, immediately curling into his side a second later.

"Let her be for a while yet. After all, she had been so convinced we were together until that meeting. She may need processing time to understand what she just saw," Jemma yawned. Fitz kissed the crown of her head, curling his arm around her.

"If you think so. Go back to sleep Love." He felt her nod, body languid against his as she sighed into his skin.

"Fitz?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you suggested we pretend to have sex. I don't want to think about how long it would have taken us to get here if we hadn't." He smiled at the admission, stroking his hand up and down her ribs.

"Me too Jems. Me too."


End file.
